This is a Note to Industry/Private Veterinary Practices from the Ireland Department of Agriculture and Food, August 31, 2006:

The Department has now received confirmation of seventeen cases of Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), the most recent on 26 August 2006. As a consequence of these seventeen cases, a total of twenty-two premises are currently subject to Department imposed movement restrictions and approximately 1000 horses have, in total, been subject to movement restriction.

The sixteenth case, confirmed on 25 August, was on a previously unrestricted premises and the Department is currently investigating the circumstances of this case with a view to confirming a method of transmission. The most recent case was on a previously restricted premises and, as such, came within the Department’s high-risk category.

In the past fortnight, the Department has begun the process of de-restricting a small number of the initial in-contact horses. It’s hoped that this process will continue and accelerate in the coming weeks